There aren't too many nostalgic interludes in the relentlessly future-oriented world of technology, but when we took delivery of a Sony Vaio Pro 13 notebook last week, it marked the end of an era.

When Sony sold its PC division to Japan Industrial Partners last February, and it was announced the new owners would restrict sales almost exclusively to Japan, it seemed highly likely it would be the last time we would ever go about setting up a Vaio.

We've found the top Vaio models both technologically advanced and reliable, and we've bought several, mostly the top-of-the-line Z series, over the years, including the 15th anniversary collectors' edition made in Japan in 2012, which is when the model line ended. Who knows, in years to come, it may actually become a real collector's item.

Our last Vaio, the Pro 13 SVP13219PGB, has a battery-saving Intel Core i7 4500U ultra-low voltage processor, 8GB of RAM and a speedy 256GB PCIe Samsung SSD rather than a conventional hard drive.

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With one or two minor quibbles, it is arguably the best Vaio ever shipped, which somehow makes the message ‘‘No Longer Available'' appearing on the web ads and in retail stores even more poignant. As this column goes to press, it may be all but unobtainable.

With suggestions Samsung may also leave a market that has had a dramatic decline, there's a troubling possibility the market dynamics that have led to continued improvement in higher-end notebooks such as the Vaio no longer apply, and the inevitable result will be a rapid decline into mediocrity.

Sony, perhaps more than most manufacturers, suffered from average notebook buyers tending to overlook the sort of refinements its engineers worked hard to deliver. With additional battery life, reduced noise and weight (the Pro 13 weighs just 1.06 kilograms without its power adapter), improved cooling, better screen resolution (this model has a brilliant 13.3-inch 1920x1080 multi-touch IPS or In-plane switching display) and sheer reliability, that lack of appreciation might perhaps be highlighted by the fact that one of the elements of additional thought in this and Sony's Tap 11 and Duo 13 models – the ingenious WAR100 wireless router – had somewhere along the way been unbundled from the package.

This diminutive device plugs directly into a slot in the power supply, allowing you to connect an Ethernet cable and automatically establish a wireless access point that allows up to five concurrent connections.

You need that sort of facility because the shrinking of the chassis – it measures a mere 16 millimetres with the lid closed – comes at the cost of an Ethernet port. A USB LAN adapter can do the trick, but that leaves only one free USB port.

These days wi-fi is widely available but it is by no means as universal as a LAN cable connection, hence the WAR100. We could have bought something like D-Link's invaluable DIR-506L SharePort Go portable router ($98 at JB Hi-Fi), which adds a built-in rechargeable battery, but that vacant slot on the power adapter proved too compelling, so we tracked down a WAR100 on eBay for $66.

Battery life of the standard package isn't quite as good as the MacBook Air's but the optional sheet battery we bought from a local web retailer for $130, including shipping, doubles that, while adding less than 350 grams in weight. That keeps the Pro 13 running from dawn to bed time, which is not so much impressive as astonishing.

One problem with this unit is wi-fi performance. Connecting at times can be fiddly, particularly after waking from deep-sleep state, which we have improved somewhat by disabling the power-saving mode of the connection under properties in the Network and Sharing Centre.

Nevertheless, wireless range is more limited than it ought to be. That issue seems to some extent to arise from Intel's work on the wireless module; Sony may have chosen a better system.

So far, Sony has kept faith with its customers with a recent BIOS update, and has promised to continue after-sales services, support and spare-parts supply in warranty and out of warranty. Given Australian consumer laws, and nostalgia notwithstanding, we expect the company to continue to respond if things go wrong.